MY PLANET || MY RESPONSIBILTY

We have grown accustomed to our environment’s state today. Is global warming real or not? Are we seriously endangering our health and destroying the only place, the only planet we actually call home?

With environmental issues left, right and center. It is quite easy to get decentralized by the news. Most of us still have the mindset that, it is the government or top organizations’ responsibility to fix it all. However, this is far from true. That’s the most dangerous mindset and just as a student, as young as we are, we can help save our environment.

How? You ask. Through implementation of simple, practical ways in our daily routine which help us save a couple ringgits too as students. In case you did not know how serious these environmental issues are, here’s a list of facts for you.

1. Plastic does not go away, it just gets smaller.
2. Earth loses 30.000 species per year because of climate change and pollution.
3. Pollution is one of the dangerous global killers, as it affects over 100 million people.
4. 2 million tonnes of industrial, agricultural and sewage waste enters the Planet’s waters every day.
5. Roughly 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped in our oceans.

It is our moral obligation as individual to protect our Planet. These environmental issues have worsened over the past years. So how exactly do we contribute to these environmental issues? What is being done to save our environment? Do you still use plastic straws and bottles? Have you switched to owning your own water bottle? Environmental damage poses threats to our ecosystem. And by simply changing our daily lifestyle is progress in the right direction! Simply disposing your trash properly is a positive action. Alone we can do so little, but together we can do much more. Here are simple ways we can protect our environment as students.

1. Say no to plastic bags. – Plastics are the 3^rd oceans biggest polluter. Carry your own reusable bag each time you go shopping.
2. Use a reusable water bottle. – Do not use plastic bottles as they end up in landfills, waterways and oceans. Apart from carrying plastic toxins that cause kidney and liver damage even cancer, plastic water bottles produce micro plastics that harm marine life.
3. Avoid non-recyclables. – i.e. Plastic straws which take hundreds or even thousands of years to breakdown. This causes severe, long lasting damage to the environment.
4. Carpool. – Lessen your daily contribution to carbon emissions by sharing your ride with your friends and family or maximizing public transportation. Or instead of driving a car, ride a bike or scoter or even walk to campus.
5. Recycle, recycle, and recycle. – Whether it is an alcohol bottle, empty jar, any plastic or paper product, recycle!
6. Clean your surroundings. – Clean your surroundings and prevent environmental issues such as pollution and water contamination. Through proper disposal of waste materials and cleaning our backyards.
7. Plant a tree. – You can a plant a tree in your backyard. This is a classic way of saving our environment from extreme climate change by reducing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

So what’s stopping you?  Let’s protect our Planet, our Home.